Customer Reviews

9/11 (Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition)

5 star:		(116)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Of course, when the Naudet brothers visited the United States from their native France, they did not expect to make a film about the terrorist attack on New York City on Sept. 11, 2001. Rather, they simply had planned to film the journey of Antonio "Tony" Benetatos from being a probationary firefighter (or "probie") to a full-fledged firefighter.

The first 25 minutes of "9/11" are rather uneventful as one would expect for Benetatos's first weeks on the job. It didn't involve any major disasters. As the Naudets say during the film, most of the footage that they had involved watching the firefighters cooking and eating and cleaning the firehouse.

On the morning ofSept. 11, Jules Naudet followed a couple of crew chiefs on a routine inspection of gas outlets in the streets of NYC. Unusually loud airplane engines, signaling their low-altitude presence, caught Jules' attenetion while he happened to look up through his video camera. Thus he captured the only known footage of the first airplane crashing into the World Trade Tower. Meanwhile, his brother Gedeon, who was still at the firehouse, began making his way towards the WTC on foot. Accompanied by their firefighter friends, both brothers captured extraordinary footage of what was to become "Ground Zero."

One brother was in the lobby of WTC Tower 1 just as the firefighters began planning their rescue operations. When the towers collapsed, one of the Naudets was actually trapped inside the lobby of one of the towers, while the other brother was right outside of the 1st tower when it collapsed. He was almost buried by the falling debris, as a thick cloud of dust and smoke engulfs him and his camera.

Some of "9/11" is difficult to watch. The awful sound of bodies slamming into the ground, falling from above the 85th floor. The area around the WTC looks like nuclear winter had descended upon Earth, mixed with heart-wrenching shots of fallen heroes who had just given their lives to save others.

There's the devastating story of how the Naudet brothers think that the other one may have died under the fallen buildings. When it turns out that miraculously no one from Battalion One was missing, one of the Naudets remembers how a firefighter told him, "Yesterday, you had 1 brother. Today, you have 50."

I managed to get hold of this DVD recently. It took me a few days to get up the courage to watch it as I was worried about reliving so many of the horrible memories of that day. Although this DVD is upsetting, it is an incredible documentary (all the more so as it captured the only image of the first plane crashing into the WTC) and in my view probably the best documentary to show future generations when they ask "What happened on September 11th?" It is a look at that tragic day's events as they unfolded, with all the sense of chaos, fear, panic and confusion that people in the towers and in the direct vicinity of the WTC must have felt. What started out as a documentary on a NYC fire crew turned into an "accidental" documentary on the world's worst terrorist attack. We are, fortunately, spared the graphic images of people dying, although the sound of bodies hitting the ground is very disturbing and the footage of the second plane hitting tower 2 was the most shocking I had seen (it graphically conveys how fast that plane was going when it hit). This DVD is above all a fitting and respectful tribute to the FDNY without being overly sentimental or deliberately pulling at the heart strings. The tragedy is left to speak for itself.

I read every review for this DVD and agree with a passionate heart that it is truely mind numbing. I am amazed that no one mentioned Ronan Tynan (who sang Danny Boy at the end of the movie) That song opened the flood gates for me, I was already so emotional from watching the movie but when I heard Danny Boy I became a blubbering mess. Where can I get a copy of Ronan's version of this song....Watching this movie is a moment in my life that I will never forget. Please contact me if you have a copy.

According to Paramount Home Video: "A portion of the proceeds from the sale of '9/11 : the Filmmakers' Commemorative Edition' will be donated to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Scholarship Fund."

THIS IS A TRUE AS IT HAPPENED DOCUMENTARY OF WHAT HAPPENED ON 9/11, VIDEO THAT WILL NEVER BE SEEN AGAIN,GREAT AS AN ARCHIVE VIDEO OF ONE OF AMERICAS WORST DAYS AT THE WORLD TRADE CENTERS. STUNNING

Incredibly interesting, super well done with footages never seen before (esp. what was going on into the towers after the attack). This is a MUST, really.

This was a fantastic programme. It has been one of the fewer programmes that made me cry watching it. We got to know the workers at the firehouse before the attacks so I felt I knew them personally and we got to see them working at ground zero afterwards. This is an amazing piece of work by everyone involved.

I saw so much on TV after 9/11, but this is the piece that made it real, and made me cry (finally). If you want to see what happened and how it affected the people of new york, the U.S. and the world... this would be the film. Brillaintly and bravely filmed, poignantly narrated. There is nothing better. Watch this film and always remember.

There are not really words to describe this documentary. The first time I watched it (when it originally aired) I don't think I blinked. I cried like a baby that time and when I watched the DVD, but I thought this was an important piece of history that I would like to have to show my son (who was 3 at the time of the attacks) what it was like - and also to remind myself. It is well done. I especially liked the fact that these 2 brothers who filmed what was originally a documentary on rookie firefighters did not go for the lurid - you can hear the sounds of bodies falling, but they are not shown. One of the brothers states that someone to the right of him was screaming and on fire when he first entered the lobby of the Trade Center, but he did not think it was proper to film. The brothers did not capitalize on the horror of the situation to make money. This is by far the most complete and most compelling piece on September 11 I have seen.

In an incredible piece of documentary film making. 9/11 really give you a window into what it may have been like to witness the events of 9/11 first hand.Anyone who's interested in investigating the events of 9/11, especially the skeptics need to see this. The reason I say this is that while I believe there are many legitimate unanswered questions, this documentary puts to rest any questions about the fringe theories of about what happened that day. Most impressive of all, you get to see the excellent gob that the FDNY, NYPD, and rescue workers did that day. Word of warning; while there are no graphic imagines in this (ones; that haven't already appeared on TV), this will evoke some of the feelings and memories we felt that day. Understand that before viewing.